Everything with the USCIS takes awhile, but we are pleased to say that we were accepted to adopt and bring home to the US 2 orphans from Africa. YAY!!! :)
We need to get the paper notarized and then Kyle will take it downtown to have the State Seal put on it, then it is sent away to CO. It will finally be complete as a whole.
IAN is wonderful and will let families be on the waiting list while they are finishing up the paperwork for the USCIS. It takes such a long time sometimes, that it could really set you back in time as to when you would get on the waiting list. Since the waiting list is pretty long as well, they don't worry about you getting a referral before having all the paperwork for USCIS done. Thank you IAN. :)
In other big news, Ethiopia has 3 locations of their orphanages, Northern, Western, and Southern. Right before Christmas the Southern region had put a hold on their adoptions and referrals, because they were unable to handle all the paperwork. Now, all the regions are run by different people, I guess to me I think of it as each state has a governor, and that's how the regions in ET are as well. So, IAN is still supporting the kids in the orphanage but we are still without answers if and when it will open back up. The other part that stinks beyond the fact that there are children there waiting to be adopted, is that a large number of the children came from the Southern Region. With that, it is making the wait time even longer. We will be looking at another year to 18 months probably before getting our referral or our match. We continue to pray everyday for our children, and their safety. I think we should also be praying for the Southern Region with those children as well, and praying that the Southern Region opens soon. If that were the case, the movement would be a lot on the list and so many families would get their children home a lot sooner and to a loving and safe place. Please join us in prayer for those things.
We are pretty certain what genders we will be getting by where we are on the list, so its great for planning, but also not great because now all I want to do is shop!! Haha, but like Kyle says, things will change and I'm going to want something different in a year or so. I have to hold back and wait, so I'm doing my best...
Other than the things above there isn't a whole lot going on with the adoption stuff. It's a slow and steady waiting game. We get excited about the referrals coming through though and watching ourselves move up the list. Its the little things that keep us going. :)
